The present invention relates to an air damper, and more particularly, to a cylinder type air damper that can suitably be used with a glove box or the like in an automobile.
As shown in FIG. 8, a conventional air damper 20 of this type comprises a cylindrical cylinder 21 whose opposite ends are open, a piston 22 to which a base end of a string 23 is connected for moving within the cylinder 21, an endcap 26 having a valve 25 for opening and closing a communication hole 24 which is open at one end opening of the cylinder 21, a guide cap 27 for guiding the movement of the string 23 at the other end open side of the cylinder 21, and a compression coil spring 28 interposed between the guide cap 27 and the piston 22 in the cylinder 21.
When this air damper is used in a glove box of an automobile, the cylinder 21 is fixed at the side of an instrument panel, and a tip end 23b of the string 23 extending from the guide cap 27 of the cylinder 21 to the outside is fixed to the side of the glove box. As the door of the glove box is moved to its open position, the string 23 is gradually pulled out from the cylinder 21, and the piston 22 is moved in the same direction against the spring pressure of a compression coil spring 28. With this operation, a damper effect is obtained by a flowing resistance of air passing through an orifice (not shown) which is opened toward the piston 22, to ensure that the glove box is slowly moved toward its open position.
When the door of the glove box is moved into its closed position, the piston 22 together with the string 23 is forcibly pushed back into the cylinder 21 by the spring pressure of the compression coil spring 28, and air accumulated in the cylinder 21 is released to the outside from the end cap 26 through the communication hole 24 which is opened by the valve 25. Therefore, the piston 22 is swiftly moved within the cylinder 21, which facilitates the closing operation of the glove box.